SEE Law’s Sue Ellen Eisenberg’s experienced opinion was sought out by Crain’s Detroit Business in May over whether the Quicken Loans courtoom victory defending a policy not to pay overtime to loan officers is yet another twist in a national controversy of loan officer compensation.
On the long term ramifications of the decision, Ms. Eisenberg said “a decision from the Department of Labor doesn’t mean a court has to side that way.”
“It’s like with the Equal Employment Opportunity Commission, it is an administrative opinion that is entitled to deference,” she said. “So it doesn’t mean the courts have to rubber-stamp cases.”
The change in opinion is largely based on seeing loan officers as more like analysts, but in the earlier interpretation it was assumed that their work as financial analysis satisfied the exemption when they were working with clients.
“Now it’s interpreted that they need to be working on the financial analysis of the company,” said Eisenberg.